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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28728060">Learning to change</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Daffodils/pseuds/Blue_Daffodils'>Blue_Daffodils</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Learning to... [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Jack Blank Adventures - Matt Myklusch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Imagine Nation, Magic, Original Character(s), Slow Burn, Unofficial Sequel, Varagog Village, Witches</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:02:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,057</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28728060</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Daffodils/pseuds/Blue_Daffodils</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Skerren's life is like his swords. Clean, simple, and straight to the point. He likes it like that. All that changes when an unknown wizard tries to kill a little girl under his watch. Immediately, he rallies his friends, Jack and Allegra, to help him save, not only her but her whole coven. There's only one problem: the coven is missing members. Forced to travel into the real world to find them, Skerren starts to question everything he thinks he knows. Now, the only way he's going to be able to save anyone is if he opens his heart to change.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Allegra/Jack Blank, Past Skerren/Trea (Jack Blank), Skerren/OC</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Learning to... [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2106681</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Breakfast dates and attempted murder</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a retelling of 'Learning to Stay' from Skerren's point of view. There are changes in the story from 'Learning to Stay.' The characters are younger in this version with Jack Allegra, and Skerren being around 16-17. Also, Vanessa gets found before Victoria.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Skerren is having a rough morning. The past few days have made it difficult for him to get any sleep. His eyes feel almost painfully dry and itchy like there's sandpaper taped underneath them. His entire body aches with fatigue. His movements are slower and clumsier than usual. Fortunately, he's not in the middle of battle or expecting to be, so the impact of such sleep deprivation is little. Currently, he’s sitting across from Jack and Allegra at a small tavern in Galaxis. The restaurant had been Allegra’s suggestion. The tavern's name is <em>Farfarout</em>, a hint at the solar system the food originates from. The signs and menus are all illuminated with neon lights that glow bright even in the daytime. The workers are mostly machines. The waiters are golden automatons that remind him of that one space movie that Jack had forced them all to see. They rush about taking orders to the chef in the back. The chef is a friendly alien named, Grog, who’s on a first-name basis with Allegra. Once the dishes were ready, Grog would put them on tiny drones that would fly the meals to their tables. It’s all incredibly futuristic.</p><p>     Skerren hates it.</p><p>     Having an excess of the machines around unsettles him. Having them around his food, makes his stomach turn. Of course, he didn’t think Allegra had him in mind when she picked the restaurant. Allegra laughs as Jack starts to take control of the machines to give her pancakes a smiley face with stolen whipped cream from the kitchen. The two had been dating for almost a year now. After years of weird flirting/not-flirting, they’d finally decided to get together. Skerren is happy for them. He really is. They’re a perfect match. But he does hate how he’s become a third wheel to their relationship. He knows Allegra and Jack aren’t doing it on purpose. The three of them have been friends for years now, and hanging out together is always going to be something they do. However, sometimes, while the three of them hang out, the two seem to exist in their own bubble. It makes him feel like a third wheel in their friendship, which is becoming extremely awkward. For example, right now. Allegra stretches a silvery arm towards Jack bopping him on the nose with the whipped cream.</p><p>     “I don’t like this restaurant.” He blurts out. While that's true, he says it mostly to break up whatever the hell is going on at the end of the table.</p><p><br/>     “Oh,” says Allegra, looking up at him, like she’s just realizing he’s there. She then looks around at the restaurant, coming to the realization of why he hates it. “I’m sorry Skerren. I should’ve realized-”</p><p><br/>     He cuts her off mid-apology. “It’s fine.” He says. He didn’t really want or need an apology from Allegra. Her heart had been in the right place when she’d chosen the restaurant. She shouldn’t have to apologize for listening to it.</p><p><br/>     Jack blinks at him as well, coming out of the bubble he and Allegra have created. “Skerren aren't you going to order anything?”</p><p><br/>     They already had this discussion when they first arrived at the restaurant. Then again, at the time, Jack was preoccupied with taking control of the lighting to spell Allegra’s name in the menus. “No,” he answers, gritting his teeth. “I’m not going to eat food that a machine has meddled with.”</p><p>    <br/>     Jack shrugs at that, probably not really interested in the answer. Then he goes back to completing Allegra’s smiley face. Skerren sighs, sure he’s going to have to answer that question again in five minutes. This was supposed to be a friendly breakfast where they caught up with each other, but it’s starting to feel like a date that Skerren had crashed.</p><p>     Allegra picks up on his sour mood once he begins to stab his knife between his fingers to pass the time. “What’s wrong?” She asks him.</p><p>     <em>You and Jack are annoying me</em>.</p><p>     “An unknown mage tried to kill a little girl in Varagog a few nights ago.” He says that because it’s true and a lot nicer than the other issue. The incident has been bothering him for days now, sitting on the top of his thoughts, like seafoam on the waves. Also, unlike the thing that’s immediately annoying him, it’s a problem that Jack and Allegra can actually help with.</p><p>     “What?” shouts Jack. “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?! What happened?” he asks all at once.</p><p>     He shrugs. “Well,” he gestures to the pancake smiley faces and whipped cream covered noses, “there didn’t seem to be a good time.”</p><p>     Jack blushes. Finally rubbing whipped cream off his nose. Allegra blushes too, staring down at the table.</p><p><br/>     Skerren sighs. “A few nights ago, a mage snuck into an orphanage to try to kill a little girl named Astrid. Fortunately, Astrid was able to escape close enough to Castle Varren that I could intervene and save her, but still…”</p><p><br/>     He could still picture Astrid’s pale green eyes, brimming over with tears. Her tiny fist desperately clutching his shirt as she sobbed, terrified. The entire scene had been painfully familiar. A small child, running for their life, and begging the king for help, for safety. Without his consent, his mind steals away to when he’d been eight years old. When his parents had turned, and he’d had to fight them off. His own hands buried in Horvath’s shirt, clutching on to him for dear life. That night had been the only time he'd let himself cry about it. Even now, so many years later, he isn’t sure if his tears came from sadness or fear. After he'd mimicked Hovarth's conviction in his own actions and let his fear, his pain turn to rage. Only recently has he let that anger go, and started to fill the space in his heart with other things. Soft silver fingers cover his own. He comes out of his memory, looking down at his own hand, wrapped so tight around the knife the knuckles were turning white. He looks up into Allegra’s eyes, no doubt she can track where his mind is at. Jack probably could too. They all have nightmares that didn’t go away with daylight. Jack’s literally lived inside him.</p><p>     “What happened to her?” Allegra asks softly.</p><p><br/>     He latches onto the question like a lifeline, using it to pull himself out of the dark place his mind had gone. “She's safe for now. She’s living in Castle Varren under Hovarth's protection. She claims to be a mage herself. That she knows all things that have ever been written.”</p><p>     "Does she?" asks Jack.</p><p>    He shrugs. "According to the orphanage, Astrid's never shown any magical abilities, but..." But then she had whispered something to Horvath and the man’s face had turned white. After thirty minutes of conversing, her tiny pale hands held close to his ear, his King deemed her words to be truthful. “She’s obviously very intelligent. It is possible that she knows what she claims.” When she first came to the palace, she had seemed shy and demure, but she soon came out of her shell once she met the king. She’s had a lot to say. She’s been volunteering information at every corner whether they asked for it or not.</p><p><br/>     “Hovarth and I have sworn to protect her, but she says that's not enough. That she knows the other members of her coven are in danger, and she won’t be safe until they’re all united. She's convinced it's her quest to go find the other witches. Hovarth told her to stay at the castle until we can figure out what’s going on. To let us handle things until we could guarantee her safety.” As much as he sympathizes with her desire to go out and help her coven, he agrees with Hovarth’s decision. Astrid is still a child. And, he knows from bitter experience, they all do, there are some things a child shouldn’t have to deal with. All three friends sit at the table in silence, slowly digesting his tale. It’s Jack who first breaks the silence.</p><p>     He laughs softly under his breath. “Could you imagine if somebody had told us that when we were kids?”</p><p>     Skerren can’t help but laugh at that, Allegra too. He can’t even count how many times Jack has dragged them into trouble after they’d been specifically told to stay out of it. If Astrid is anything like them, she’d probably be out searching through Varagog for the missing members of her coven right now. His heart stops at the thought. He looks up at Jack, then Allegra. Based on their own expressions, they’re thinking the same thing. He bolts up out of his seat, not even bothering to check if his friends are behind him. He’s racing towards Varagog. While he’s racing out of Galaxis, Allegra and Jack speed by him in a hovercar.</p><p><br/>     “Get in,” shouts Jack from the driver’s seat. They speed towards Varagog Village, a little girl’s life depending on them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Finding a Needle in a Forge</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     They speed down the MagLev road towards Varagog. Jack is racing down the road barely missing cars and running through signs, Skerren can’t help but have flashbacks to the time he crashed the two of them into a light post at full speed. At the time, he’d been convinced Jack was trying to kill him, but now, he is starting to think that’s just how jack drives, considering the two different ships that have caught fire with him at the hem. As buildings blue past them, he makes himself a silent promise that if he should ever acquire any type of vessel, he won’t let Jack steer the wheel.</p><p>     Once they make it Varagog, they ditch the car since it wouldn’t be able to work inside the walls. Skerren isn’t going to miss it. He can’t tell if he feels sick because of the ride or because Astrid might be missing. Back in Varagog, he’s in his comfort zone, and he wastes no time, sprinting down the cobblestone streets to Castle Varren where Astrid should be. Jack and Allegra take off after him. A brave move for Jack considering that none of the many gadgets he wore in the belt around his waist would work inside Varagog. But, that’s the thing about Jack, he’s ridiculously brave, and Allegra is always there for her friends. Even though they might annoy him at times, he couldn’t think of any two people he’d rather have raced by his side into danger. The guards at the doors let them pass without a fight. Skerren leads the way, racing towards the room Astrid should be.</p><p>     “ASTRID!” He bellows as he opens the door. He quickly describes what Astrid looks likes to Jack and Allegra as they tear through the room: pale blonde hair, green eyes, talks a lot. By the time he searches through the room, it looks like a hurricane has gone through.</p><p>     “She’s not here.” Says jack, stating the obvious.</p><p>     “Thank you Captain Obvious!” He snaps.</p><p>     “Hey, calm down,” says Allegra stepping between them. “She said that she was searching for her lost coven, right?” He nods. “Then we just need to track them down. When we find them, we find her.”</p><p>     “That’s a great Idea, Allegra.” Says Jack, practically oozing heart eyes. Allegra blushes, smiling at the compliment.</p><p>     Skerren rolls his eyes at the interaction.</p><p>     “Where would you start to look for witches in Varagog?” asks Jack.</p><p>     Skerren shrugs. He honestly has no idea. Magic in Varagog is simply everywhere. Everyone used it. From small displays, such as the magic mirrors that displayed the news, to the magical portals to other realms. If using magic made you a witch, then everyone in Varagog was a witch, including him. The only way to differentiate between someone who uses magic and an actual witch was ironically, with another mage or a witch, of which, they were in short supply. If Astrid hadn’t told them and shown them her magic, they would’ve never known about it. Then again, he thinks as he thinks about Astrid’s demonstration and explanation of her own powers, maybe they weren’t asking the right question.</p><p>     He’s suddenly immensely grateful for the time he had studying under Midknight. The vigilante and current circle member had taught him several different useful skills, including ‘The answer is only as helpful as the question’. Astrid is a witch, who knows things, specifically things that have been written down, which means she would try to find the other witches of her coven by using her knowledge. He starts looking through the room for a book, journal, anything with writing on it. He instructs Jack and Allegra to do the same. After heavily searching for a while, he finds it, hidden inside her closet, a newspaper clipping with an ad circled underneath. It’s written by a blacksmith’s daughter, advertising for a job in her father’s forge.</p><p>     I can no longer continue to work at my father’s forge. It has prevented me from finding a suitable husband. Also, my heart is no longer in it. I love my father, so I will need to interview potential takers to make sure that he is able to work with you. The pay is not good, but he’s a good man and a kind boss. Interviews start at 10:00.</p><p>     He frowns at the strange advertisement. With such an unflattering description, he isn’t sure if the woman wanted to keep her job or leave it. He highly doubted Astrid is looking for a job a blacksmith’s assistant, so she must be planning to go to this woman for help, or something. He tears out the page, memorizing the address. Jack and Allegra follow him outside as he leads the way to the forge. Fortunately, it isn’t too far away. It’s on the hillside of Varagog surrounded by open fields and a few neighbors. The forge is a dark black building hidden in the shadow of a hill. As they get close, Skerren realizes it’s not a shadow, but rather layers of soot from the billows of smoke pour out of the chimney at the top. His heart rate starts to climb. A forge is a dangerous place for a child without the extra threat of a magical order of wizards hunting her.</p><p>     A terrified scream sounds from inside the building. All three friends share a look as they start to race inside. The strong smell of burning metal and fire makes him want to gag. There are an assortment of sharp and dangerous tools lying around, not to mention the raging fires that could catch on Astrid’s dress and set her aflame. His heart is pounding in his chest at all the possible ways Astrid could hurt herself, or the numerous ways an attacker could take advantage of the weaponry around to harm her. He sprints towards the voice of the scream.</p><p>     It’s at the heart of the forge they find her. Astrid is standing amongst a litany of colorful glass shards. Her hair and dress are smudged with random finger-sized smudges of soot. She’s staring down at the ground, so he can’t really read her expression. But he doesn’t need to. Without a second thought, he races in front of her sliding into a battle-ready stance with both of his swords drawn. At the end of his blades is a very startled-looking woman with fiery red hair and amber eyes.</p><p>     “Oh,” she says. Her mouth gaping wide like a fish. She blinks, once, twice, then collapses to the ground.</p><p>     Fortunately, Allegra is there. Her silver arms stretching to catch her before she hit the cement floor. Skerren feels bad, but he also doesn’t know that woman or her intention to Astrid, so not too bad. As far as he’s concerned, he could’ve just said Astrid’s life.</p><p>     “Aww, you knocked out Fen.” Says Astrid behind him. For the first time, he looks at her, really looks at her. Astrid looks fine. Despite being a little dirty, she still looks healthy and intact. She doesn’t look scared or hurt. In fact, she kind of looks annoyed. Relief surges through him at her well-being, but it’s quickly dispelled.</p><p>     “Astrid,” he says, his voice becoming terse. “Hovarth commanded you to stay at the castle, to keep you safe. How dare you dis-”</p><p>     “But he didn’t.” she interrupts. “Hovarth told me I ‘should’ stay at the castle. He never said I had to. I felt that finding the other members of my coven is the most important thing I ‘should do, so I left. It looks like I was right. I found Fen.” She points to the unconscious woman. “She’s a member of our coven and very important to. With her around, we’ll find the other witches must faster.”</p><p>     He frowns at her flippant answer. Technically, she was right. Hovarth hadn’t explicitly commanded her. Even so, the intention behind his words was clear. She still should’ve stayed at Castle Varren. When he was her age, when Hovarth gave him an order, implied or not, he followed through. He’s about to tell her as much, but as she watches her start to play with the handle of a wrench uncomfortably close to a pot of molten metal, he decides to push that conversation back for a later day. Preferably, when she was safe back at Castle Varren.</p><p>     “We should head back to the castle now.” He grabs her hand, pulling her away from the wrench.</p><p>     He starts to walk towards the exit, but she pulls her hand back from him.</p><p>     “Not without Fen,” she says, racing back to the unconscious woman in Allegra’s arms.</p><p>     Skerren pinches the bridge of his nose. He didn’t know how much longer his patience could last. “We can’t just take a woman we don’t know from her work without telling her or anyone else who knows her, it’s kidnapping. And we’re,” he gestures between the three of them, “are heroes.”</p><p>     “But,” starts Astrid.</p><p>     “No, ‘buts’, we are going.” He grabs her hand again.</p><p>     Instead of following him, as he expects, Astrid collapses to the ground, crossing her legs. “I don’t want to go back to Castle Varren, and by your own logic, if you try to force me, you’re kidnapping me. Actually, kidnapping me because I’m a kid. If you want to abandon Fen, you’re going to have to abandon me too.”</p><p>     “Allegra, wrap her up,” he orders.</p><p>     She looks down at the woman in her arms, then back at Astrid, biting her lip. “I don’t know Skerren. She does kind of have a point. It is technically kidnapping.”</p><p>     “It’s for her own good!” he exclaims.</p><p>     “Even if that’s true,” says Jack, “You can’t force her to come with you. You’re not her parent or legal guardian.”</p><p>     Skerren blows a sharp snort through his nose. Ogs Blood! he wishes that they’d found a coven of evil wizards or enchanted monster animals. Fighting is something he knew how to do. It came naturally. Slice, stab, parry, dodge. He’d spent enough time sparring and in an actual battle that the movements came as easy as breathing for him. In the heat of battle, everything is clear. It’s a simplicity that he loves. This is something else. He has no idea how to force Astrid to let them protect her. He thought about commanding her. Hovarth announced him officially as his successor once he’d turned 18, which gave him authority to officially command most people in Varagog, but considering that she’s already disobeyed Hovarth, he doubted she would listen.</p><p>     While they're all discussing this, the woman in Allegra’s arms starts to stir awake. “What’s going on?” she asks.</p><p>     Allegra’s body ripples as she shifts to be in front of the woman. “Hi, I’m Allegra. You fainted.” She explains to her.</p><p>     “I had the strangest dream, Lord Skerren was trying to kill me…” her sentence falls off as she stares at him. “Oh,” she blinks, once, twice.</p><p>     “Please don’t faint.” He begs her. “I’m not here to harm you. I am here to help.”</p><p>     She races to stand, noticing his presence. She clumsily performs a proper curtsey. He motions for her to stand, feeling his face heat in embarrassment. He does his best to ignore the shared looks that go between Allegra and Jack. That was something that’s been awkward since he’d been announced as Horvath’s successor. The formality that came with his new title. the formalities of being called Lord and the bowing and curtseys. He understood its importance. It’s tradition. Still, he couldn’t say he’s a fan. If he was being perfectly honest, he found it all frivolous and embarrassing.</p><p>     She starts to fix her hair and clothes to appear neater and cleaner than they were. It didn’t work. “My Lord, I’m just, wow, you’re really here. here is my father’s forge.” She smiles, then panic overtakes her features. “I’m so sorry for the mess. There was a tiny thief here earlier. She snuck in, but I’m sure she left once she saw you. I mean, who wouldn’t race away from the most skilled Swordsman in Varagog. Not just Varagog, the whole Imagine Nation. nay, the whole planet. Nay the whole universe." she gives a nervous laugh. "I'm sorry, I'm just rambling on. it's just," she gestures towards him. "I mean. Wow. Just, here. in my father’s humble forge. Truly we are honored.” She curtseys again, an entirely unnecessary gesture.</p><p>     He doesn’t exactly know how to respond to that, and Astrid doesn’t give him the time to figure it out. “Hi,” She says waving animatedly at her. Fen jumps back. “I’m Astrid, and I’m not a thief. I’m a witch.”</p><p>     Fen’s eyebrows scrunch together as if in thought. “You claiming to be a witch doesn’t mean you are not a thief. You can be both a witch and a thief, and the only reason I can imagine you breaking into a forge is that you wish to steal something”</p><p>     Astrid smiles. “Not something, you!” she says excitedly.</p><p>     Something Skerren is starting to notice is that Astrid has no idea what social cues are.</p><p>     The woman takes a hesitant step back, no doubt concerned about the tiny, self-admitted witch threatening to kidnap her.</p><p>     “We are not here to kidnap you.” he volunteers quickly. “I’m here to collect Astrid because she’s under our King’s protection, and has decided to ignore his order-”</p><p>     “I didn’t ignore them. I just took a creative loophole.”</p><p>     “Ignore his orders,” he emphasizes, “to stay at the castle. I must bring her back there.”</p><p>     Fen nods her head timidly. Still in thought, “And the reason the child witch is here is she wishes to abduct me, yes?”</p><p>     “Well,” he pauses unsure of how exactly to continue from there.</p><p>     “I’m not trying to kidnap anyone. I’m trying to unite the coven so we can stop the black syndicate.” Astrid informs her.</p><p>     “Coven?” she asks. “what coven? What are you talking about?”</p><p>     Astrid’s eyes light up like a child on yuletide at the question. Before he can stop her, she takes off, speaking faster than should be humanely possible.</p><p>     “Weareallapartofahiddencovenofpowerfulwitchesknownastheorderofthewhitecircle.Currently,ourenemies,theorderoftheblackcirclearerising,andtheyare-”</p><p>     “ASTRID!” Skerren yells, interrupting her. She turns to glare at him, angry at having been interrupted. “We can talk about this on our way to Castle Varren.”</p><p>     He holds out a hand to Fen. They needed to get back to Castle Varren. At least then, she’d be Horvath’s problem. The only issue was that Astrid refused to leave unless Fen left, and he’s not sure that Fen will agree to leave the forge. She mentioned how much she loved her father in her ad. She also mentioned how much she wanted a husband. He thought back on her heated cheeks and nervous rambling.</p><p>     “My lady,” he says holding out his hand, bowing formally. “I would appreciate it if you would accompany me to Castle Varren for dinner tonight.” He says.<br/>She looks down at his hand, back to his face, down to his hand, back to his face. Her mouth is open in a shocked expression, and she seems to be struggling to take a breath.</p><p>     “Yes,” she squeaks before promptly fainting.</p><p>     He gives a deep sigh. If every witch they collected was like this, this was going to be a long and frustrating quest indeed.</p>
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